One of the most difficult places to keep free from lime deposits in a toilet bowl is the area under the rim where flush water is directed into the bowl. The ordinary conventional toilet bowl brush is able go reach those areas to some extent, but generally does not have Sufficient scrubbing power to remove the deposits. Such deposits have the capability of harboring and propagating bacteria as well as becoming discolored and visually unattractive.
Although it is highly desirable that this under-the-rim area of the bowl be regularly cleaned to impede the growth of lime deposits and microorganisms, it has not been a common practice to do so. The major reason for this is that the location under-the-rim is resistant to ordinary soft bristle toilet bowl brushes as well as the fact that the ordinary brush does not reach well into this area. As such, there is a great need for a cleaning device capable of being manipulated into the under-the-rim area of the toilet fixture and performing scrubbing action to physically remove lime deposits and associated debris.
The cleaning of a toilet bowl can often be a time consuming procedure. Conventional toilet bowl cleaners require a scrubbing action throughout all of the surfaces of the toilet bowl. Often, a great deal of manual manipulation and "elbow power" must be employed so as to properly clean the toilet bowl. Standard toilet bowl cleaning devices are not properly designed for both ergonomic arid efficiency concerns.
In the past, a variety of toilet bowl scrubbing devices have been developed in an effort to reach the under-the-rim area. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,967,441, issued on Nov. 6, 1990, to R. A. White, teaches a standard toilet bowl brush which includes a forwardly and upwardly canted lance. A steel wool or other harsh scrub pad is placed on this lance so as to enable under-the-rim scrub action where hard deposits build up and discolor occurs from water deposits. The under-the-rim scrub brush extends outwardly from an end of the brush opposite to the handle of the brush. As a result, this device may properly accomplish the under-the-rim scrub action, but fails to accommodate ergonomic and efficiency concerns. The under-the-rim scrubbing activity occurs as a separate and independent action from the standard toilet bowl scrubbing procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,660,318, issued on Feb. 28, 1928, to J. I. Anderson teaches a rounded brush head which has outwardly extending bristles, at the back of the brush, for the purpose of cleaning the rim of the toilet bowl. These outwardly extending back bristles facilitate the under-the-rim cleaning. Unfortunately, this arrangement of bristles does not provide the necessary resistance so as to carry out the proper scrubbing activity in the under-the-rim area. This is especially true since only a few bristles are arranged so as to extend outwardly of the brush head.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,848,868, issued on Mar. 8, 1932, to T. R. Churchill and U.S. Pat. No. 2,242,004, issued on May 13, 1941, to F. J. Kapinos teach round edge brush heads. Each of these brushes is particularly designed to facilitate the under-the-rim cleaning action during the cleaning of toilet bowls. Each of these patents describes a brush system which employs rearwardly projecting bristles that extend, outwardly, at an angle from the main brush. Once again, the cleaning action provided by these outwardly extending bristles is unlikely to accomplish the necessary scrubbing action, in an ergonomically efficient manner, for the proper cleaning of under-the-rim deposits.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,501, issued on Mar. 24, 1959, to M. J. Brennan teaches a brush that is particularly designed for the under-the-rim cleaning action. Bristles are affixed to an arm extending outwardly of a handle at the bottom of a handle. The bristles are arranged in an arcuate fashion so as to accommodate the curvature of the toilet bowl.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowl scrubber that effectively cleans the under-the-rim deposits.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowl scrubber that can carry out the under-the-rim cleaning in an efficient and ergonomically practical manner.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowl scrubber that is easy to use, easy to manufacture, and relatively inexpensive.
These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a reading of the attached specification and appended claims.